specifically chosen so that I can enter this over
at Scrapbookers Anonymous for their A-Z challenge
(Letter G). I laid another sheet of Glitz paper on top,
cut down by 2cm side to side and top to bottom,
then inked it heavily and laid a mask over the top
(actually a piece of Studio Calico die-cut paper) and

inked over that too, varying my pressure intentionally -

using inks, as you can see, has a very different effect to

using mists and the results can be even more interesting!

I used Sketch 195 from Creative Scrappers as my inspiration,
so I began building up my layers using co-ordinating Glitz
"Layers" and "What Nots" - to make them go further I cut
them and extended them as you can see with the grey text
card on either side of the main piece and the "Dream" text
card at the top and again on the right-hand side (both those
cards have been cut down so that I could use them in 2 places).

Instead of the stars I positioned the doilies as my
embellishments,inking as I went along (using mustard
and pink on the cards & bronze on the doilies),
then, once I had all the layers adhered together I laid
them all down on top of the papers and got everything
stuck down together & added my first photo.

If you want to play along at Bird is the Word
all you need to do is use the word DISCOVER
anywhere on your layout/card/project, to stand a
chance to win a sponsored prize as well as a Guest
Designer position, voted for by the Design Team,
based on merit, as well as one random draw too,
so please join us if you can!

1. Check your layout before you start by scouring
every millimetre of it with your eye, for fluff, remnants of

embossing powder, bits of glue, etc - have a large

face-powder brush kept specially for brushing off your layouts

before you start photographing them (You don't notice these

little things when taking a quick look at your layout - but you

DO notice them once you have uploaded your images - then

you have to start again!

2. Check your camera settings. Shoot on manual or aperture-

priority and adjust your F-stop to the lowest number possible

without blowing out highlights. Make sure your white balance

is set to CLOUDY and you shoot in the SHADE - there have

been a few very annoying times for me when I have

photographed a bunch of layouts only to discover, once uploaded,

that they were all "blue" from having my white balance set to

"Flourescent" from shooting indoors the night before.

3. Adhere your layout to the wall of your house or to a pillar/

column etc (any vertical flat surface) using removable adhesive

(I use Prestik but in the UK it goes by the name of Blu-Tack,

some people call it "Sticky Stuff" - hope you all know what I

mean - it looks like grey or sometimes blue, chewing gum!

4. Photograph your layouts HEAD-ON. Do NOT photograph

them standing over them on the floor - your results will NOT be

as good and you will have problems with llight and perspective

control.

4. Have a very steady hand (like me - lucky!) or use a tripod -

you do not want ANY shake at all. Lucky for me there is

A LOT of light where I live so I always have a huge aperture

(a very low F-stop number) so the shutter speed is so fast

that there is no time to shake or blur at all.

5. Stance & Angle. Stand with your legs as wide as you

can (like a giraffe) to stabilise yourself and get a good

distance between you and the photo (a couple of yards

on average) - try taking some photos closer & some further

away too (not more than about 1 metre) & do your best to

make sure that you are HEAD ON with the image -

not shooting down or up to it.

6. Take a lot of photos. Typically I take about 40 images

of a layout - including close-ups and dimension shots,

then choose & edit the best, and once that's done I delete the

rest immediately. It's all digital now so no problem with that

- better to have a good selection so click away! Every click

makes you a better and more confident photographer too!!

7. Edit your layout photos. Start with the proportion control

(see link above), or if that's all a bit fancy for now, just use

the straighten tool like I have done for years! Then use the

crop tool - set to MANUAL so you can adjust it just right -

around the edges of your layouts - then brighten it up as much

as you can by adding "fill light" - then a touch of highlights

(don't overdo this or you lose detail) and a teeny touch of

shadow. This will immediately pack a mean punch. Now

desaturate so you don't all look like you have a fake tan

(orange) and lastly sharpen for a crisp image. Be careful

with this last one as it will add grain if you have a bad

quality image to start with so you may only be able to

adjust slightly.

This may all sound very complicated but I've done it so often

I can do it with my eyes closed now (so you will be able to

as well, with some perseverance) & if I have a whole lot of

images taken under exactly the same circumstances, once I have

them cropped & straightened I can batch edit them all

together as opposed to individually. You can do this all

FOR FREE in Picasa (and probably other free software

programs) well - everything except the proportion control,

which you will need PSE/Photoshop for.

And there you have it - layout photography demystified. It's
an important skill to learn if you want to show off your layouts
online - you take hours to create them so you want them to
look their very best for the whole world to see! Helloooo? Are you still there?? Well this was rather long...
hope it was helpful!?!

We dined here on Meditteranean pizza
whilst enjoying glorious scrappy conversations...
Wow, how I love to speak to someone who
speaks my language - yes! Evgenia may be
Russian but say the words "Scrap Cake" to her
and she understands EXACTLY what you are
talking about!! Just kidding, her English is excellent!

She has the most beautiful young boy, Anton,
who was captivated by the coconuts! So Sweet!!

Our two hours together flew by & before we knew it
it was time to kiss goodbye to each other & the ocean.
I loved having a "different day" away from my normal
humdrum routine, meeting a special friend & enjoying
the company of my son, it was wonderful! And
tomorrow is Friday, Happy Weekend Everyone!!

FIND ANYTHING BY TYPING IN WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

PIN ME ♥

SHOW YOUR ♥

FOLLOW BY EMAIL

MY NEW FEED

FOLLOW MY BLOG IN ANY READER

FEEDLY

If you follow via FEEDLY please update to my new feed by copying & pasting the URL below into the searchbar on the top right of Feedly in order to subscribe to my new feed feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/FcPEP

Type the word TUTORIAL into my SEARCH BAR to see them all {scroll back up!}